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  • Child care app wins AFIMSC Innovation Rodeo

    Maj. Jacque Vasta, executive officer for Air Force Materiel Command’s deputy commander at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, will receive a share of $1 million in funding from AFIMSC to develop her idea for potential implementation across the Air Force and Department of Defense.

  • Rescue dogs help heal wounded warriors

    The Office of the Warrior Advocate is a first-of-its-kind organization that was founded by two wounded warriors that saw a need. It is in that same spirit of seeing needs and answering the call that service dogs are becoming part of Offutt’s landscape and cultural norms.

  • Door opener adds lethality for K9 unit

    The 96th Security Forces Squadron modified a military working dog squad car last summer with a safety feature that protects both the dog handler and their canine companion while out on patrol.

  • Air Force partners with Google to improve IT security

    The effort covers three areas: Network-as-a-Service, End User Services and Compute and Store, and consists of technical assessments to determine if alternative solutions can meet unique Air Force requirements.

  • PMEL introduces a safer, efficient way of teaching

    A new virtual reality training experience, introduced by the 335th Training Squadron, is designed to allow students of the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory career field to train as if they are in a working environment.

  • AETC, AMC team up on VR solutions for modern C-130 training

    Headquarters Air Force, Air Mobility Command, and Air Education and Training Command have been working on a virtual-reality platform for maintenance training through Mass Virtual, a contractor that scans real-world objects to create virtual environments.

  • DoD innovation units join forces to engage small business

    Over the past few months, AFWERX, Army Futures Command, NavalX, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Innovation Network have joined forces to make this experimental concept an interagency initiative to bridge the gap between startups, small businesses and government.

  • AFMC seeks innovative ideas through IdeaScale Campaign

    Airmen and civilians from across the enterprise are invited to submit innovative ideas and solutions to improve the AFMC mission through the Air Force Ideation Platform, or IdeaScale, now through September 2020.

  • AFIMSC announces 2020 Innovation Rodeo finalists

    Eight finalists for the 2020 AFIMSC Innovation Rodeo were selected out of 143 submissions and nearly 2,000 online votes to compete for a share of $1 million in funding and resources to implement their ideas.

  • Air Force announces Spark Tank 2020 selectees

    Spark Tank also offers Airmen the opportunity to get their ideas in front of key enabling agencies that can share expertise and resources such as funding or personnel for the projects being presented and demonstrate pathways for intrapreneurs to make their initiatives successful.

  • Air Force sets foundation for energy optimization, lethality

    As 2020 approaches and the Air Force prepares to take on the challenges of the next decade, we must also review our successes and lessons learned from the last year. For Air Force Operational Energy, 2019 was a year for laying the foundation to build a more optimized and lethal force in the years to

  • F-16 downs drone during cruise missile defense testing

    The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron shot down a subscale drone using an AGR-20A Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser-guided rocket Dec. 19, providing a proof of concept for using rockets queued from an F-16 Fighting Falcon targeting pod as viable munitions to perform cruise missile defense.

  • AFGSC names 2020 Spark Tank finalists

    Air Force Spark Tank is an open call for Airmen to bring forward their best ideas that build upon senior leader priorities to restore readiness, cost-effectively modernize and drive innovation.

  • First virtual pitch day contract awarded

    U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa A8I Operational Innovation Branch and the 764th Enterprising Solutions Squadron awarded their first virtual Pitch Day contract, Dec. 13.

  • Florida resilience chief gets look at Tyndall AFB rebuild

    The Tyndall Air Force Base leadership team briefed Dr. Julia Nesheiwat on the current state of the installation and the commitment to incorporate resiliency, innovation and technology as main components of the rebuild plans.

  • AETC Learning Wi-Fi Service begins roll out across command

    In an effort to expand learning opportunities for Airmen and enable training and education from any device, Air Education and Training Command has begun the Learning Wi-Fi Service project to install commercial wireless internet across the command’s installations.

  • Faculty development takes evolutionary steps in classroom

    The 82nd Training Wing Faculty Development Flight’s Basic Instructor Course is heading down a path where students are able to collaborate in an evolutionary educational workspace. They are building on the concept of modernizing the training environment at Sheppard AFB, with the hope of seeing this

  • Project NEXUS: Empowering the USAF’s digital talent

    Designed by the AETC technology integration detachment and hosted by the AFWERX-Austin hub, the beta test program was designed to fuel organic technology problem solving efforts for Airmen in their day-to-day workplaces.

  • AFIMSC announces topics for I-WEPTAC 2020

    The topics have been selected for the Installation and Mission Support Weapons and Tactics Conference 2020, and the chairpersons will be on board this month. What remains is determining who will fill the ranks of the four Mission Area Working Groups charged with tackling some of the Air Force’s

  • AETC announces 2020 Spark Tank winner

    The 381st Training Group’s idea to transform low-fidelity training into a student-centered, solid foundation for space warfighters and Air University’s “give makerspace” idea that enables creative, innovative Airmen to devise solutions in a dedicated makerspace by providing physical space to work

  • AFIMSC seeks ideas for Innovation Rodeo

    The campaign, open through Dec. 15, gives military and civilian members of mission support groups worldwide a chance to win part of $1 million in funding and resources to implement their ideas.

  • University students help JSTARS innovate scheduling

    Operators of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System are teaming up with Mercer University’s computer science department in Macon, Georgia, to advance an antiquated software system.

  • Air Force Academy launches new Airmanship Next program

    Launched at the start of the fall semester, Airmanship Next augments live-flight at the airfield with virtual reality training to reach cadets who may have been excluded in the past by scheduling conflicts and infuses more aviation training into the four-year cadet developmental model.

  • Incirlik AB Medics improve outdated process

    The 39th MDSS medics created a new patient travel-request form process and contributed to saving the wing approximately $34,000 and 1,300 man-hours annually. This process improved overall patient satisfaction and was recognized as the 39th Air Base Wing’s key innovation for the third quarter.

  • Air Force stands up new Advanced Aircraft PEO

    The new office was created to transform the Next Generation Air Dominance program into the Air Force’s Digital Century Series initiative, using digital engineering, modular open systems architecture, and agile software development to design advanced airplanes faster and enter production with a

  • DoD, industry collaboration part of Spark Collider 2.0

    The event, dubbed Spark Collider 2.0, invited representatives from Silicon Valley-based tech firms onto Travis AFB with the interest of gleaning firsthand accounts of specific problems facing the base and finding ways in which their companies’ resources could help to solve the problems.

  • The sky's the limit: Sheppard AFB innovation goes from ground up

    Mixed reality used by the 80th Flying Training Wing is a flying environment in a controlled setting that enables students to learn and make mistakes with a safety net. It was created through the use of 360-degree cameras, skilled pilots and actual images from flights over north Texas and southern

  • AFRL team selected for innovation award

    According to McIntire, these door locks are designed to be portable, strong, quick to deploy and infrastructure-free with no permanent installation needed. They are also designed to fit both right and left-handed doors, for both in-swinging and out-swinging doors.

  • Air Force creates futuristic fighters

    The 7th Security Forces Squadron is implementing the newly-improved Multiple Interactive Learning Objectives training simulator as part of their regular training curriculum.

  • AFRL invents cargo aircraft tire change tool

    The 60th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, part of the Air Mobility Wing at Travis Air Force Base, California, who maintains the U. S. Air Force’s largest aircraft, the C-5M Super Galaxy, contacted the AFRL's JFWORX team seeking assistance to increase the safety and decrease the manpower requirements

  • Tunnel 9 personnel provide guidance for hypersonic experiment

    Earlier this year, personnel from Tunnel 9 provided instrumentation installation training to members of the research team from the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, or JHU-APL, in Laurel, Maryland, working on the Boundary Layer Transition, or BOLT, flight experiment.

  • Roper: Air Force of the future is faster, smarter, bolder

    “To become a more competitive acquisition system, the Air Force needs to be aware of trends in technology,” said Dr. Will Roper, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, technology and logistics. “The world is changing, we have to change with it. The key is to decide which technology

  • CMSAF to engage with ACC Airmen about resiliency through video games

    Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright will play a football video game with three Airmen on this live-stream platform to discuss how Airmen can influence each other and develop a resilient organizational culture. The ACC Airmen will be chosen through a video contest that ends on

  • OEA introduces Energy StoryMap

    OEA, with its team of team of energy experts including engineers, project managers and policy analysts, serves as the single point of entry for all Air Force strategic facility energy and resiliency initiatives.

  • AFH1 phone app available now on Apple and Google Play

    The AFH1 app includes the “The Air Force Handbook 1,” and study guide, as well as Air Force Instruction 36-2618, The Enlisted Force Structure, known as the “The Little Brown Book.” There is also access to the “The Little Blue Book” which focuses on the profession of arms. Other tools such as flash

  • CDO, AFIMSC enable readiness through cloud-based visualization tool

    The VAULT Platform is the data office-sponsored platform that provides cyber-secure, cloud-based tools to connect, find, share and learn from Air Force data. It was implemented to be fully compliant with the Air Force Data Services Reference Architecture (Air Force released in February 2019). The

  • BESPIN-AFIMSC alliance improves mission support capabilities

    BESPIN and AFIMSC are partnering to develop two mobile applications: an app connecting the military community to base events and an app to improve contractor accountability. The apps were two of the top three ideas chosen during AFIMSC’s inaugural Innovation Rodeo March 1.

  • Air Force advances innovation at “Spark Collider”

    In Air Force-speak, the Spark Collider “will accelerate the matching of Air Force problems with viable solutions” by being equal parts speed dating, tech showcase and pitch sessions. The Air Force’s effort to innovate is part of a central tenet for defending the United States as outlined in the

  • DoD agency keeps file swaps safe

    Now in the wheelhouse of DISA, the file transfer capability has been rebranded DoD SAFE, or secure access file exchange. The DoD SAFE capability is part of DISA's Defense Collaboration Services suite of applications.

  • AFCYBER presents, participates in DEF CON 27

    Throughout the four-day event, attendees could learn new skills from industry professionals, test those skills during capture-the-flag competitions, network with others, interview for jobs and test out products and simulators, among other things.

  • AFRL licenses second technology to local firm

    This marker, along with a second patent by Brott and his team involving infrared phosphor technology, has recently been licensed to Battle Sight Technologies, which expands to their existing collection of infrared technologies. This technology works similarly to the dials on a watch, absorbing

  • AFSPC rolls out new enterprise data strategy

    The command’s enterprise data strategy will provide the means to ensure greater mission success. It is a framework that integrates space enterprise data sources into a common, resilient and agile architecture optimized for space domain awareness and responsive multi-domain operations at speed and

  • AFRL’s Digital Hangar to support lifecycle management of aerospace systems

    The Air Force Research Laboratory’s “Digital Hangar,” a concept created by Dr. Rick Graves, an Air Force Research Laboratory’s design and analysis branch aerospace research engineer, is a virtual repository containing digital surrogates of aerospace systems that have been gated through rigorous

  • Speed wins: MacDill AFB contracting awards 100k in swift fashion

    With the success of its first Pitch Day, MacDill AFB showcased how partnerships with local businesses are an integral part of advancing innovation to improve warfighting capabilities. Even further, Pitch Day was a testament to the base’s efforts to open their doors even more to small businesses in

  • Eglin AFB pilots receive ratings for new helicopter

    Maj. Zach Roycroft and Tony Arrington completed the five-week contracted course on the civilian counterpart to the Air Force’s new MH-139 helicopter. The helicopter will replace the Air Force’s aging UH-1N Huey.

  • Evolution of space: 2nd SOPS celebrates GPS Block III on-orbit test

    Lockheed Martin presented the 2nd Space Operations Squadron with a GPS Block III model satellite to celebrate the successful on-orbit testing of the new GPS III satellite at Schriever Air Force Base, July 29.Staff Sgt. Joseph Wood, 2nd SOPS mission chief, said the model is a physical representation

  • International, technical partnership continues to flourish

    Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization Preparatory Commission executive secretary, Dr. Lassina Zerbo, traveled from his headquarters in Vienna to meet with Air Force Technical Applications Center commander, Col. Chad Hartman, in Florida July 25, to discuss modernization of the National

  • Air Force brings defense planning into 21st century through modern software

    For much of the defense community, the ease and functionality of modern technology is not translated to military planning systems. While cumbersome acquisitions processes, funding issues and security concerns are often valid causes, many Department of Defense processes (and any software associated

  • Simulators prepare Airmen for real-world scenarios

    “They blink, they breathe,” said Raymond Jernigan, 633rd MDG simulator operator. “Even the baby simulators have motion. They cry. I can program it to talk. They can be programmed to have physiological responses – I’ll set the vital signs.”

  • 100th surgical team completes robotic surgery training

    This milestone is significant for Keesler’s InDORSE program, showing how far the curriculum has come since the program first stood up in March 2017 with just one robot. Now, InDORSE has acquired a second robot, allowing them to train more military surgical teams across the Department of Defense as

  • AFMC conducts focus groups across enterprise

    The AFMC We Need enterprise-wide initiative, launched in late June 2019, seeks inputs and recommendations from AFMC civilian and military Airmen that can help posture the command to best support the National Defense Strategy today and in the decades to come.

  • Vice President Pence visits Vandenberg AFB

    Vice President Michael R. Pence made his way to the Combined Space Operations Center where he was greeted by Maj. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, 14th Air Force commander, and received briefings on the evolution of launch operations at the Western Range and CSpOC operations, which concluded with an

  • JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst hosts first-ever base-level Pitch Day event

    The two-month process, which started in April, began when the 87th Contracting Squadron published problem statements from the 87th Air Base Wing, 305th Air Mobility Wing, 621st Contingency Response Wing and Expeditionary Operations School, requesting innovative solutions from small businesses to

  • LEGACY youth program builds interest in STEM careers

    The Leadership Experience Growing Apprenticeships Committed to Youth, or LEGACY, program is an Air Force program aimed at building interest in science, technology, engineering and math through summer craftsman camps and paid summer apprenticeships while showing how STEM applies to the world around

  • Air Force gathers innovators for Tyndall AFB rebuild

    To that end, members of the Tyndall Program Management Office, along with Air Force experts, industry and community leaders participated in an AFWERX-sponsored workshop June 25-26 in Las Vegas to rebuild the installation as a “base of the future.”

  • Aircrew gets new anti-smoke goggles

    With innovation, the new ASGs are now a three-part system. The suspension frame itself is still made the same with the nape pad attached, while the goggles and oxygen mask portion have been upgraded.

  • AFMC launches “AFMC we need” initiative

    The command-wide activity will seek the input of military and civilian Airmen across the headquarters and center footprints to recommend changes to posture the command for mission success in the decades to come.

  • First virtual reality training arrives at Keesler AFB

    The 334th Training Squadron incorporated the first virtual reality training for airfield management students in the Air Force at Keesler Air Force Base, June 28, so they can get more of a “hands-on” learning experience.